I can now officially claim that someone I knew before they were famous became famous.

Donna Freedman, one of the hosts of MSN’s Smart Spending blog, now has her own column on frugality, named Living With less, on MSN Money. Her first article, Live well without going into debt, went live just today!

As you all may or may not know, selected Blueprint for Financial Prosperity articles have been appearing in the MSN Smart Spending blog for about a year now and during that time I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Donna. She is down to earth, frugal, hard-working, and someone who can relate to average Americans. She’s not some guru with a bunch of glossy hardcover books and a speaking tour, she’s someone who understands frugality and thrift because that’s a part her DNA.

I grew up this way. We planted gardens, dried laundry outdoors and saved scrap lumber for other projects. Potatoes were the underpinning of almost every meal. We mowed the doctor’s lawn to help pay our medical bills.

Firsthand knowledge of living with less came in handy when times got tough in midlife. I wrote an article about my situation, “Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year,” and the outpouring of reader reaction surprised the MSN Money editors.

I’m a little sad that we won’t be emailing on a regular basis about Smart Spending but this is a great opportunity for her. I think her column will do very well given our economic times and I invite you to check it out and to please give her your support.